


Made with Love

by Charizarrdo



Category: One Piece
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Baking, Fluff, M/M, Marco can't bake lmao, Short & Sweet, Sunsets, Valentine's Day, petnames, picknick date, well it was supposed to be shorter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:08:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29465538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charizarrdo/pseuds/Charizarrdo
Summary: All he wanted was to give Ace a present he had make himself, something personal that conveyed his every bit of love he felt for his firecracker. But by the seas, he never expected to fail so miserably at something that shouldn’t have been so difficult in the first place.
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	Made with Love

**Author's Note:**

> Just a bit of fluff for the boys on valentine's day! They deserve something soft and cute

Marco is an adequate enough cook. His skills could never come close to that of a seasoned chef like Thatch or any of the rest in fourth division who provided for the ship’s every meal, but Marco could cook. If taken the time he could put together a meal that both great taste and amazing looks.

However, baking appeared to be something otherworldly that didn’t fit into his list of attained skills over his years of living. Whenever Marco tried to bake a cake or even a simple batch of cookies, they would either end up exploding in the oven or the dough could be tasted with every bite, meaning it was still raw to its core. And whenever the heavens smiled upon him and graced him with a successful bake, whatever his creation would be looked as if it were well on its way of dying—out of pure misery Marco reckoned. 

Such was the fate of his latest creation.

Marco had used precise caution and followed every step provided in the cookbook they were given for today’s class, yet the expected end result and what he ended up with were two different things—creatures if one should name it. 

What should have been an adorable heart-shaped red velvet cake, coated with fluffy cream cheese and decorated with shavings of red colored chocolate and edible flowers on top, had turned into an abomination resembling a volcano. The cake had caved in on its middle where the frosting lay mixed with the shavings of chocolate, making the creation into a dormant volcano where its magma was none other than the cream cheese topping with vibrant flowers. Even his instructor stood astounded when Marco showed her his creation, questioning how he got the cake to rise that high before it sunk like that.

A sigh tumbled down his sugary lips, while he was capable of keeping a clean enough workspace where one could eat from the surface, he had the magic power to cover himself in whatever substance we was working with. In hindsight, maybe he should’ve asked Thatch to help him out after all. Joking put aside, the man would be able to help Marco make something that is both edible and looks like it’s safe to eat. But the endless teasing and stupid jokes about birds trying to woo their mates had gotten the better of Marco, it’s why he decided to take lessons on the island they were docked on instead of asking his friend.

After he had finished his commander duties he had snuck out, doing his best to wade through the busy town’s street and blend in so nobody could see where he was heading. Holding a poster in his hand that spoke of baking classes, Marco navigated his way to the little shop. Valentine’s day was today and he wanted to surprise his lover with a specially made gift.

Ace had told him of the times before he was a pirate, back when he lived in the East Blue with his brothers. They would celebrate valentine’s day as a special day where they showed just how grateful they were to have each other, to share the brotherly love they hold for one another by gifting self-made presents of whatever supplies they could find in the jungle. It was similar to how Marco celebrated valentine’s day with his siblings onboard the Moby Dick, but this year he wanted to show Ace a different side of the holiday. That’s why he was so hellbent on creating an amazing cake that was specially made for Ace. Yet all his efforts had been for naught.

All he wanted was to give Ace a present he had make himself, something personal that conveyed his every bit of love he felt for his firecracker. But by the seas, he never expected to fail so miserably at something that shouldn’t have been so difficult in the first place.

  


* * *

  


By the time Marco had packed his _creation_ in a simple box, he made his way toward their agreed location. A single glance at the sky told him the day was gradually coming to an end as the sun reflected with an orange hue, laying low on the horizon that was hidden behind a row of houses, the sky painted in equally red and orange clouds.

He had actually wanted to visit Thatch before meeting Ace, hoping he could somehow fix the mess he made. But doing that meant missing their date and Marco wasn’t ready for that. Ace was most definitely waiting for him. Sitting on the hill they had chosen as their date’s destination for tonight, wanting to watch the sun set and waiting for the stars to illuminate the dark skies. 

If he wanted to be on time he had to hurry.

Gently he bent down, placing the box on the ground before he spread his arms—no matter the irreversible damage, he couldn’t afford it to become an even greater wreckage. Fire spread from his fingertips and made way for glowing wings, his body following suit as the flames left a blazing phoenix in its wake. Carefully the phoenix reached down, taking the box containing baked goods in his talons as Marco lifted himself in the air. 

The flight towards his destination took him no time at all, something that bothered Marco more than it should have as he could barely come up with an excuse for bringing such a disastrous present with him on their date. Yet the bright smile aimed at him was enough to make him forget his inferior problems, even breathing seemed of less importance if it meant looking at that wonderful face—which isn’t to be overlooked as inferior because he needs the air.

“You made it,” spoke a giddy Ace, his smile making the setting sun look like a small glowing dot in comparison to the bright light that shone off of his lover. “I almost thought you’d bail on me.”

“Just because it’d happen once, doesn’t mean it’ll happen every time, Ace.” Marco sighed, it seemed that he hadn’t been let off the hook for forgetting just one date.

“It’s hard to tell what’s going on inside that birdbrain of yours,” Ace mocked with a cocky grin, shoving his shoulder against Marco’s partially transformed body before walking to a spot on the hill that was covered in a checkered blanket.

“You gonna stand there all day, birding out, or ya gonna watch the sunset with me?” A single dark eyebrow cocked up and the same grin hold on to its earlier pose, looking absolutely pleased himself. “What’s it gonna be, birdy?”

Marco huffed slightly annoyed but complied in the end. His shimmering wings shifted back to hands as his body followed the flow, allowing the fire to mask his transition back to his human body. Before he walked up to Ace, he reached down to take the box from the grassy ground, quickly sending a silent prayer to any god who was willing to listen that his monstrous creation would still be intact—at least not worse than it already was.

He was about to sit down on the blanket when something caught his eye, halting him in the process. “Thatch really outdone himself, yoi.” Marco muttered softly as his eyes swept over the basket filled with different kinds of food, filled to the brim.

Ace had taken a few of the containers out and stalled them broadly over the expanse of the blanket, turning a simple date of watching the sunset that would end in stargazing into a three course meal. Baguettes with garlic butter laid stacked upon each other in a woven basket, a fruit salad containing all of Marco’s favorite fruit in a glass or plastic bowl, an entire steak presented on a plate, on second look it appeared to a several steaks, a yellowish mess Marco figured would be mashed potatoes, and even an arrangement of sweets was plopped between the heaps of food.

As Ace unpacked the last containers of food, all of them overlooked by Marco as he wondered how everything had ever fit into such a small basket in the first place, Marco found himself at loss when Ace spoke to him next: “come and sit down, birdy. I didn’t make this just so you could look at it.”

For a lack of better response Marco gaped at him but sat down nonetheless. He had never seen Ace cook like this, the times he did watch Ace cook a fish above the campfire usually ended with scorched fish. This had to be a horrible joke.

“It isn’t,” Ace send him a skeptic look and Marco felt like hitting himself for unknowingly speaking his mind. “I can cook, mind you. I’m just not that interested to do so, it’s more fun when others cook and I can eat.” He shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant manner that left Marco grasping for any piece of memory when Ace told him he could cook.

“I’ve never seen you cook, yoi.” He hated how lame that sounded.

“And I’ve never seen you cook, so we’re even.” Ace wore his trademark grin, the same grin he would show when he’s about to do something stupid or when he knew he was right.

Marco felt the need to say something, but he didn’t. He likes it when Ace is this confident about something, no matter what it was. It never failed to light a fire in his eyes and Marco, being the lovesick idiot he is, loved watching it flicker to life before growing uncontrollably bright and stating of different ways Ace would show his untamable spirit. He cupped his lover’s cheek in his palm and brought Ace in for a kiss, trying to express his gratitude in his eyes alone when he pulled back.

  


* * *

  


Ace was right, watching the sun slowly disappear from the horizon with a mountain of delicious food was a great idea. They had spent their time talking about silly or mundane things, ate in serene silence or were unable to look anywhere but each other.

By the time the food was nearly gone, only a handful of sweets and some grapes left, they had cuddled into one another as they watched the skies shift to dusk and stars were rapidly illuminating the dark curtains spotlighting the moon.

“Sorry, I forgot to make dessert. I wanted too, but time was running out.” Ace spoke up from beside him, nestled into Marco’s side as they gazed up to the sky.

“It’s fine, yoi. You made enough to keep us both from starving.” Marco joked and felt victorious when Ace laughed a snort.

“Gotta keep the bird happy.”

“I think it’s more the other way around.” Marco said as he poked his love’s side, gaining a soft squawk of surprise.

The simple gesture turned into a poking contest and activated Ace’s unbridled urge to not back down and win this fight. He launched himself at Marco, trying to hold the elder on the ground while sitting on the man’s chest. They rolled around over the blanket, uncaring of the empty plates and bowls with pieces of leftover food that clung to the sides of the dishes, now staining their clothes. 

Only when Ace’s eyes land on the box that stood on the grass, an even red color with soft pink ribbons forming a bow on top, did he stop their little fight. “You got me something.” He said as a statement, as if testing the words out, but Marco heard the lingering at the end that indicated the curiosity on receiving a present.

Marco stiffened underneath Ace and the younger looked down, wondering what was wrong. “That’s, uhh…” Marco didn’t know how to go about this. He did make that present specially for Ace, but at the same time he didn’t want to gift Ace such a horrendous cake after he had been given something much better.

Ace had seen enough, Marco found out with an anxiously racing heart, as the freckled man reached for the box. He gently hold in in his hands when he moved to sit on the blanket, no longer cutting off Marco’s air supply by occupying a spot on his chest.

Marco watched as the ribbons came undone and Ace slowly lifted up the lid, the only thing that separated them from his creation. “Wait. Ace, don’t.” Ace moved his gaze from the box to Marco’s face, locking eyes and Marco saw his puzzling look. “It’s not– it’s not that good, yoi. Don’t look, I’ll make you something better, I promise.” His eyes were focused on the blanket underneath them, watching how Ace’s toes wiggled from the corner of his eye.

He winced as Ace plainly ignored what he had said and opened the box either way. And when Marco expected a look of horror or disgust, maybe a face of confusion, or simply witnessing how the box would be thrown aside for its ugly content, nothing happened. Ace simply stared at the cake with a curiosity matching that of a baker who was inspecting someone’s work, making Marco even more self-conscious about his gift.

Marco felt a flight or fight sensation bubbling up, wanting so desperately to hide in shame or boast about his work despite them both knowing it was literal shit. But he before he could made up his mind, Ace spoke up.

“You don’t have to worry, Marco.” Ace smiled as he stared to the wreckage which should resemble a cake. “This is an amazing gift,” this time the smile was directed at him, and left Marco blinded by the reflection of genuine appreciation and love.

“I told ya, didn’t I? My brothers and I used to give each other a present of whatever we could find in the jungle, it was always something personal.” A nostalgic look passed over Ace’s face and Marco wondered what memory caused such a happy smile to dance on the man’s lips. “No matter how beautiful or ugly,” he lifted his grey orbs to meet Marco’s blues, “it was the love poured into the gift that was the real present.”

“I love your gift.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all had a wonderful valentine's day!!
> 
> Thank you for reading, I really do hope you enjoyed the fic! Feel free to leave a comment to let me know what you think! :3


End file.
